Third Best Future
by TaylorRose16
Summary: The week following the Large-Scale Invasion weighed heavily on many of the agents of Border, but none more than the members of the Tamakoma Branch. Unable to do anything else, they go through the days as best they can, waiting for the time when Osamu would finally wake up. [request from Tumblr]


**A/N: Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to click on my story! :D As the summary states, this was written as a request from someone on Tumblr (my World Trigger-centric Tumblr is future-trigger, if anyone is interested!), who wanted to see the Tamakoma agents' emotions explored more during Osamu's stay in the hospital at the end of the Large-Scale Invasion. It was supposed to just be a short drabble but well, uh... I'm really terrible at keeping these kinds of things short. This isn't my first WT fic, I've written a few others over on Tumblr, but it is the first one I'm posting elsewhere because I'm actually pretty proud of how it came out. So I hope you like it as well! :D (a million thank yous to my wonderful waifu Anna-chan for beta-ing this for me!)**

 _ **Disclaimer: I do NOT own World Trigger or any of its characters.**_

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The atmosphere was heavy as the agents of Tamakoma waited with bated breath for the doors to open. Having the assurance of Jin's Side Effect was easing on their conscience, but they still needed to hear the confirmation from the doctor. They still needed to see their friend alive and well.

None of them had actually seen Osamu. None of them knew how bad his injuries really were. At the time that he had been rushed into the Border medical ward, none of them had been near the base themselves. Yuma had been the first to make it there, but he had been told that his leader was already being operated on. And so he was forced to sit and wait, eventually being joined by a de-cubified Chika who proved to be much more distraught about the situation at hand than her Neighbor friend. She calmed down a considerable amount, however, when Yuma informed her of Jin's precognitive words regarding Osamu's condition. But even though he seemed to be calm, Yuma was much quieter than usual, and sat very still while turning something over and over in his hands.

They had eventually been joined by a middle-aged man who told them that Osamu was being moved to the Mikado City General Hospital. The fear on Chika's face must have been very clear because the doctor looked kindly into her eyes and continued.

"We've done what we can, but he'll receive more of the care he needs there," he said softly.

And so, half an hour later they found themselves unwillingly playing the waiting game again. Only this time they were joined by Reiji and Youtarou, and surrounded by families of other victims at the bustling hospital. The other members of Tamakoma were all wrapped up in the activity still thriving throughout the city, but had promised they would make it there as soon as they could.

After a while (none of them were sure how long), Youtarou ended up falling asleep while Reiji stood staring out a nearby window, watching as the amount of smoke rising into the sky slowly lessened over time. Yuma still kept to himself, and Chika sat in silence as well, lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around the concept of Osamu being so mortally wounded. Not when the weaponry and armor that Border used was so ridiculously advanced. So many questions swam around in her head, but of course none of them were voiced aloud.

Guilt was swarming inside of her as well. It filled her to her core. She hadn't been physically or even mentally present for the latter half of the invasion, but something told her, some nagging little voice in the back of her mind, that Osamu's near death experience was somehow because of her. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't even want to entertain the thought. But she couldn't shake the feeling no matter how hard she tried.

As if reading her mind, Yuma finally spoke up.

"Osamu's stubborn, you know," he murmured just loud enough for her to hear. Chika looked up from where she was staring and turned her head to look over at her white-haired friend. His face was unreadable and he didn't return her gaze. "He would have almost gotten himself killed no matter what, but there was something he considered so important that he charged headfirst into the inferno. It might have been reckless, but… don't you think it was also kind of impressive?"

Chika was quiet for a moment as she tried to process Yuma's words. She looked back down at the floor and her eyebrows knitted together.

"I don't…"

"There's nothing for you to be confused about, and nothing for you to feel guilty about." Chika's eyes widened and when she looked back up, Yuma's bright red eyes met her own. He offered her a small grin. "Osamu's a pretty great leader, isn't he?"

It was almost instantaneous, how the relief washed over her. The nagging voice wasn't gone, but now she had Yuma's words flushing it out. With a bright smile on her face, she responded, "Mhmm!"

Finally, when a few hours had gone by, the doors swung open to reveal a tall young man, whose experience with these kinds of situations was shown through the creases in his skin. He called out for friends and family of Mikumo Osamu, and after jumping at the name, the Tamakoma group hurried forward.

"Is he okay?" Chika couldn't help but ask when she approached the doctor. His knowing eyes gazed down at her and he gave her a small smile. After a moment, he lifted the clipboard in his hand and swept his eyes over the information.

"Well, he gave us quite a scare. Two major arteries were punctured, the femoral and the mesenteric, causing a severe amount of blood loss. He's undergoing a blood transfusion to help his restoration, and the medical staff at Border did a very good job stemming the flow until we could get him a proper surgical procedure. He's responding well to treatments, so I don't think you should let yourselves get down."

The doctor led them through the large doors he had come from and down a few hallways while informing them of the operation that had been performed on their friend. After about a minute of walking, they came to a large window.

"Osamu-kun!" Chika cried out, moving forward instantly. She stood as close to the glass as she could without touching it and gazed upon the unconscious boy in the room beyond. All sorts of different machines surrounded his bed, and he had an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose. An IV cord trailed under one side of the blanket that covered his body while a tube connected to a blood bag stuck out from under the other. His glasses were missing, but he looked oddly peaceful in his sleep.

"He should be just fine after some more treatment and well-needed rest," the doctor explained. "He'll most likely be out for a while though, maybe a week or so."

"A week?" Youtarou burst out. Sitting atop Reiji's shoulders, he stared over at the white-clad man. "Can't you wake him up before that?"

Reiji reached up and pulled the young boy's helmet down over his eyes before the doctor could even respond. "He can't be woken up by someone when he's like this," he said firmly. "We have to wait until he wakes up himself."

Youtarou's eyes began to water as he reached to push his helmet back up off of his face. "B-But… Osamuuuu…" he whined, looking back through the window. The doctor smiled kindly.

"We'll be keeping him here in ICU for a couple more days, so we can keep a close eye on him, before moving him into a regular room," he told them. "You're free to come and see how he's doing whenever visiting hours are open."

"Thank you, sensei," Reiji said before the doctor turned and went back down the hallway. The group of agents was then left in silence as they all stared through the glass at their comrade.

Osamu's chest rose and fell as it always did. The heart monitor beside him beeped rhythmically. His face was calm, his features smooth, as he lay unaware of his onlookers. The Tamakoma members watched solemnly as their friend, completely absent from reality, stayed as still as they had ever seen him. The paleness and clamminess of his complexion couldn't be overlooked. There was an anxiety in the atmosphere that hung over the group of agents like a thick fog. After a moment, Yuma's pocket began gaining more and more weight that he couldn't ignore, and so he stretched his arms above his head before resting them behind his fluffy white hair.

"I have faith in Osamu," he began. "I'm sure he'll wake up when he's ready. For now, I'm gonna head out." He turned away from the others and took a step.

"Where are you going?" Chika asked, a little surprised at her teammate's willingness to leave so soon.

The Neighbor paused, but didn't look back. "To look for Replica."

That was the last time Yuma visited the hospital during Osamu's slumber. Over the course of a few days, a lot of Border agents went to see how the four-eyes was doing, but none of them seemed to be as weighed down by the situation as the members of Tamakoma. Someone from the Neighbor-friendly branch visited the comatose teen every day, and Chika was always very reluctant to leave his side. When Osamu's mother was informed of his injuries and went to see him, she was quiet and seemed very focused on her son at first. But eventually she warmed up to the flocks of visitors he received daily, and started to enjoy meeting the peers that her son never talked about.

Jin was one of the last to visit his kouhai. Everyone at Tamakoma had been down in the dumps ever since the Invasion, but none more than the clairvoyant elite. He barely ate, he hardly slept, he was rarely seen by anyone. None of the others at the branch knew what to do or say, but they knew to give him his space when he needed it. So no one questioned him about all the time he seemed to spend closed up in his room. Or about the dark circles that started to form under his usually vibrant blue eyes. Konami was the only one who seemed to have a knowing look in her eyes when Jin passed by, but even she left him to his own devices.

Finally, when he worked up the courage to go to the hospital, he was struck straight in the gut with the guilt he'd been wallowing in for days as soon as he saw Osamu's mother. He tried swallowing it down in order to properly greet her, but the first words out of his mouth upon his approach were a very remorseful "I'm so sorry." Throughout his visit, periodically as they conversed, the same three words would tumble from his lips. She didn't comment on it, perhaps used to it from all the other visitors her son had had over the days. She didn't understand… no one understood the weight of those three small words.

When Chika arrived, Jin couldn't stop himself from speaking them even more.

Yuma began spending a lot of time with Usami, as she conducted all sorts of research regarding Replica's unknown status. For the latter part of the week following the Invasion, Yuma found himself not alone during the long nights. Even though he enjoyed the company and appreciated her hard work, Yuma did suggest Usami get some sleep on multiple occasions over the days. But the glasses-clad girl was always resilient, saying there were more important things. Although she did take a few breaks.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Usami asked as she tied her long hair up in a messy ponytail.

"I have faith in Osamu," Yuma replied, repeating his words from earlier that week. "I also have faith in Jin-san. He says Osamu will be fine, I believe it. Besides…" The white-haired teen glanced down at the small miniature version of his partner resting on the table in front of him. "I want to have good news for when he wakes up," Yuma finished, and then resumed clacking away at the keys on the laptop before him.

Training for Yuma and Chika took quite a drawback, but they still managed to raise up the morale inside themselves to practice their individual skills. After all, they knew it was what Osamu would want them to do. Their senpais were on the same train of thought and, even though their teaching wasn't as vigorous as it usually was, they still tried to retain at least some of the enthusiasm their students had come to expect from them.

Karasuma, however, found himself with more free time than usual. He visited Osamu more often than the other two on his team, despite the guilt that weighed on his conscience when he did. Even though he was very well aware of what Jin had told him before the Invasion, he couldn't help but wonder if things could have turned out differently had he made other choices during the battle. But he knew that wasn't something his pupil (not to mention Jin) would want him to be letting himself be held back by.

On the night of January 27th, a week after the Invasion, Yuma sat up on the roof of the Tamakoma building watching the twinkling lights of the city. Usami's hard work over the course of the last week had finally come to fruition, as she had told him a little earlier that evening that she was 95% certain that Replica was still alive. The factor that most supported her claim was the small miniature that Yuma held securely in his hand.

 _"_ _As long as the miniature that was spawned from the main unit is still around, Replica-sensei must still be operational,"_ she had said. Of course, she had immediately gone back to her research to double check everything. But Yuma believed her words, and had finally started regaining some of his optimism. With motivation filling his stomach with jitters, he walked down from the roof and rejoined Usami, and he spent the night listening to her explain the longwinded process she had gone through to reach her earlier conclusion.

It was as Yuma was sitting at the table the next morning that his cell phone (a peculiar thing that Osamu had said would be a good idea for Yuma to have during his stay in Japan) began to ring.

"Hello?" he answered after a moment. "What's up Chika?"

"I'm glad I finally reached you!" The young girl's voice was excited as it came through Yuma's receiver. "Osamu-kun woke up last night!"

"Huumu, I knew he would," Yuma replied calmly, though his lips had turned up in a grin. Holding the small mini-Replica gingerly in his grasp, the Neighbor started to stand up. "Suppose it's about time I come say hi, huh?"

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 **A/N: I'm actually quite glad I received this request, cuz it was a really good opportunity to explore these characters more. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoyed reading it! If you did, maybe consider leaving me a little review? I love feedback more than anything! :D**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~ Tay**


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